angelamaria

In imp: very blue and aquatic, cool deep water indeed. My first thought was that it's fairly gender-neutral to my nose, even with the flower notes. I think it's the blueness.

 

Wet, on skin: still very clean, slightly musky on me. The watery notes are still very present, reminding me of days on the beach in the summer, and times right out of a refreshing cold shower. The flower notes are there but not cloying, just giving it a bit more sweetness than what I smelled in the bottle, not so gender-neutral now, but it still makes me think of a boy's cologne at times.

 

Dry: it's a sweeter and tarter Ulalume for me, definitely less ethereal, more "present". The clean and watery scents are still there, but with fuller flower notes. I was thinking I'd definitely go for this if I was looking for a more "modern" Ulalume sort of vibe, but in two hours, it was almost all gone.

 

Verdict: I was initially thinking this was promising, but because it felt similar to Ulalume for me save for the "modernness" but without the longevity and throw I'd expect from a "modern" Ulalume, I'll pass.

In imp: smells light and airy, almost citrusy--it made me think of summer and beautiful hot days in the shade with the sun shining down. Very interesting scent.

 

Wet on skin: wow, very woody! This is my first try of a wood smell, and it smelled almost like varnish to me, the kind that you smell on newly made wooden tables and whatnot. Smells very tart, almost sharp. I was a little apprehensive right after, and wondering if I would need to wash it off before I left, but as it did smell interesting enough--there is that floral scent amidst the woody notes--I wanted to stick with it.

 

Dry: Oh wow, dried down it transforms into an airy-sweet floral smell, not cloying at all--the description says it well, "starry white lilies". Very airy, ethereal, starry, but still well-rounded and full. Good staying power--four hours later and I can still smell it on my wrist, and I can't stop sniffing it, it's such a pretty, pretty smell. I feel like I would like to bathe in this!

 

Verdict: definitely a keeper for me, very bottle-worthy!

My first BPAL sniff

In imp: definitely floral, very rosy, and very sweet--almost cloying, but not enough to be overpowering. This reminded me of swapping scented stationery with friends in my childhood. Very nice scent.

Wet on skin: smells the same as in the imp, a bit softer, rounder, but overall the same.

Dry: the sharper, juicier smell of pomegranate is coming out, but much later it's going mellow again, soft and very womanly. I sometimes smell pomegranate, sometimes rose, so it's a good balance of scents. Sadly, it turns kind of soapy to my nose very faint, and wears off far too soon.

Verdict: I'm not giving up on this yet--I'll give it another shot and see if slathering it on more will help. Not getting a bottle yet, but the scent is definitely very, very pretty--no, beautiful.

- edited to add scent description

But it's really 20 bottles for $14 and i think they all do fit else they would not put it on the website .

Thanks! It was in a decanting thread, and she was saying smaller (10-bottle) decant circles worked for her because of the 12 bottle cap. Maybe I misread, or it was a long time ago! I guess I'm just really nervous 20 bottles is $350 general catalog bottles--that's a lot of money!! (And 12 imps (1 item) would cost even more!)

 

It's definitely 20 bottles for the limit on the $14 international shipping cost from the Lab.. I've done a couple of 20-bottle orders so I know that's right. If you go over 20 bottles, your shipping cost goes up to the next rate which is $29.00. But remember that if your order totals $500 or more, shipping is free

Hi hi again And thanks! $500...man, if I get to that point I'd definitely be in trouble Plus I'd be really scared of having something that costs that much in transit!

 

I would suggest that you take some time to get to know other BPALers a bit first - see if you can find people in your area/region and maybe start off small by sharing an order with a friend or two, before jumping in to running decant circles or group orders.

 

Yeah, I'm quite hesitant myself since I don't even have any idea of what a BPAL package looks like right now! I do have a friend back in the Philippines who is keen, although I feel pretty bad because I won't be back there for a bit--a couple of months maybe. :/ I suppose I'll have to stay on the lookout--I've been refreshing the board and the lj comms a lot in the hopes of a new decant circle or anything that I can join in

So I've been doing a fair bit of lurking on BPAL.org and LJ and trying to figure out the best way to get stuff--I live in Singapore currently and as a newbie (read: no imps or bottles or anything on hand yet) I'm trying to figure out the "safest" way to order as well as the best route cost-wise. As a backgrounder, I *have* started ordering from a few lovely ladies here in the forums, because lower shipping and cheaper imps is definitely good for me; hopefully I will getting my first real taste (or sniff!) of BPAL in a month's time! (It can't come any sooner!!)

 

That said, I've seen these things from my lurking in the forums:

 

- Someone mentioned a cap of 12 bottles (or equivalent) in an international order from BPAL. But in the BPAL FAQ it says up to 20 items and 1 item = 1 bottle. Was the 12-bottle cap more of a "to be safe" sort of cap? Leading to that--I assume I shouldn't force 20 bottles/items in one order?

 

- International group orders! I haven't seen a lot (or any?) in the Decant Circles/Group Orders forum here, so I have no idea how they go or if people are interested in them, and how exactly they go about (aside from what's said in the guidelines). As a complete newbie, I don't want to bite off more than I can chew with a decant circle but I certainly want to minimize the shipping cost that I'm taking on; but I realize that people who live in the same area probably know each other and just organize their own group orders off-forum. Is this the case?

 

Thanks for any inputs!

 

(Please feel free to move the topic somewhere else more appropriate! I didn't think it was right to post it under the Decant Circles/Group Orders forum, nor in the Forum Questions/FAQ as it wasn't a technical question.)